Road paving and repairs have begun in Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH — Some roads on the northeast end of town have already been paved and this week paving begins in Common Fence Point and a few other roads.

Cardi Corp. began paving Lepes Road on Tuesday, then will works its way over to Church Lane and then sections of Common Fence Point. The job will be completed around Friday, Sept. 14, weather permitting. The parts of Common Fence Point that will be paved are Berkley, Canton, Lakeville, Norwood, Island, and Raynham roads.

Residents are asked to seek alternate routes during the road paving.

At night, line striping will be done on Sandy Point Avenue, Wapping Road, and Indian Avenue, and should be completed this week.

In August, new surfaces were put on Indian Avenue, Sandy Point Avenue, and Wapping Road from Sandy Point to Bramans Lane. Department of Public Works Director David Kehew said these roads received microsurfacing from Seal Coating of Hingham, Mass. Nine catch basins were dug out and repaired by DPW and by A-1 Paving of Portsmouth, which put in new hot asphalt and leveled the road under the repaired catch basins.

A crosswalk was painted on Sandy Point Avenue.

Planning for a third phase of paving is underway. Those roads will include Stubtoe Lane, Linda Avenue, Anthony Road from railroad bridge to Island Road, and Middle Road from Schoolhouse Lane to three-quarters of a mile north.
If there is money left over in the capital project appropriation, Mr. Kehew said that DPW will use it on crack sealing.
For more information contact the Public Works Department at 683-0362.New flood-control system coming to Islington
Two flood-control systems installed by DPW a few years ago have worked so successfully that a third will be built under Islington Avenue sometime this year.
Called an underground injection control system, stormwater flows into catch basins where sand and stone capture the rainwater and then slowly releases it into the earth.
It has worked exceptionally well on flood-prone Rhode Island Boulevard and Cove Street, Mr. Kehew said. He says there’s no longer a problem with flooding on those roads. “It has exceeded our expectations,” he says.
For Islington Avenue residents any drainage work would help. Mr. Kehew says there aren’t even any catch basins to get stormwater off the road. Making matters worse is that Islington Avenue has a long hollow section that holds water for days, he said.
“Every time it rains the street just holds water,” Mr. Kehew said. “It’s like residents have their own private pond in the front yard. It just stays and stays until it eventually evaporates.”
Asked about the flood-prone section of Anthony Road under the railroad bridge, Mr. Kehew said the state (which owns that part of the road) has promised to do work to improve it soon.